By Christian Fazzari
Second-placed Heidelberg United has suffered a shock 3-0 loss to South Melbourne in the Women's Premier League on Monday night.
Heidelberg were hoping to continue their marvellous form and were the red hot favourites going into the match after securing a great away win over third-placed Sandringham last week. South Melbourne are hoping to clinch a finals berth and a victory against Heidelberg would help them catch up with fourth-placed Ashburton.
It was a scrappy first ten minutes of the match as both teams set about finding their own rhythm.
But it was South Melbourne who settled in better than their opponents, as they looked very dangerous going forward particularly through Annabelle Gibney who was at the centre of everything in attack. Gibney made a great run down the left wing on the 14th minute, carving up the Heidelberg defence and unleashing a shot that narrowly missed past the post.
Gibney continued to cause headaches for the Heidelberg backline and it showed when she was fouled just outside the six yard box on the 20th minute. She stepped up to take the resulting free kick which she struck perfectly. The goalkeeper couldn’t jump high enough to get a tip on the ball as it sailed into the net just creeping under the cross-bar.
Right after the restart South almost grabbed a second if it wasn’t for some desperate defending by Michelle Verzi, who dispossessed forward Laura Spiranovic just before she unleashed a shot after she found space inside the six yard box.
Heidelberg United finally sprung into action in the 25th minute with Belinda Pannella and top scorer Melanie Camilleri both trying their luck from range, which brought South goalkeeper Sarah McKeon into the game. Camilleri also had a golden opportunity to equalize from a free kick minutes later which forced McKeon to make an excellent save, but the ball was deflected into the path of Julia Nicolaci who wasted her chance from close range as it missed at the near side.
South Melbourne were forced into their own half and propel the pressure applied by Heidelberg as their intensity lifted, but continued to look dangerous on the counter attack as Gibney and Spiranovic were constantly getting into dangerous positions.
During another South Melbourne counter attack Gibney grabbed her second goal of the night in the 36th minute, through an amazing lob from the edge of the six yard box that sailed over the Heidelberg goalkeeper and into the net. It was great effort from Gibney as both her fantastic goals were well deserved after she had been dominating for long periods in the first half.
The first half was brought to a close with Heidelberg sharing much of the possession but unable to find a way through the resilient South Melbourne defence.
The second half began in similar fashion to the first with Heidelberg still trying to find a way through South Melbourne’s defence who had dropped numbers back.
Gibney continued to break forward and cause major problems for the Heidelberg defence. Soon after Rita Mankowska brought down Gibney in an eleventh-hour challenge resulting in a red card for the captain on the hour mark.
Tempers threatened to flare up mid way through the second half as Heidelberg’s frustrations became evident, particularly from their bench.
It didn’t help when South Melbourne grabbed their third of the game in the 74th minute through another counter attack as substitute Jade Barnden got in behind the Heidelberg defence and squared a neat ball for Spiranovic who slotted home from close range.
To Heidelberg’s credit, they refused to give in and continued to create goal scoring chances right to the end of the match, despite the three goal deficit and being a player short. But South Melbourne was able to keep a clean sheet thanks to some heroic goalkeeping by Sarah McKeon. Defender Genia Avram came off injured after playing a big part in the backline that had been so strong throughout the entire match.
It was a fantastic result for South Melbourne who will take great confidence from this display.
Heidelberg will need to reignite their recent form and have plenty of time to regroup with a bye next week before they face the Bendigo Vipers in Round 14. South Melbourne will be looking to make it two in a row against the Preston Lions on Saturday afternoon.
Heidelberg United: Katie NEVILLE (GK), Rita MANKOWSKA, Jolene MILLER, Julia NICOLACI, Michelle VERZI, Katia TAVOLARO, Jamara MAZA, Belinda PANNELLA, Tylajay VLAJNIC, Melanie CAMILLERI, Dijana JOSEVSKA
Unused subs: Jannelle HOPMAN, Sarah ALESSI, Tarah CONTE
Yellow cards: nil
Red cards: MANKOWSKA (60’)
Goals: nil
South Melbourne: Sarah MCKEON (GK), Natalie BRAJANOVSKI, Genia AVRAM, Amelia SPIRANOVIC, Lucrece LAVERDURE, Penny BAKOPOULOS, Christine DUFFY, Sophie FINDLAY, Shelley MOSILOWITZ, Laura SPIRANOVIC, Annabelle GIBNEY. Jade BARNDEN (64’), Lisa HODGKIN (85’)
Unused Subs: Marcela MARQUEZ, Esther LA GRECA, Tiffany ELIADIS
Yellow cards: GIBNEY (29’), LAVERDURE (75’)
Red cards: nil
Goals: GIBNEY (20’) (36’), SPIRANOVIC (74’)
Last updated: Tuesday July 13, 2010 3:47PM
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